Silicon Valley, July 30 (V7N) — As the global race for artificial intelligence supremacy intensifies, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg finds himself at a pivotal crossroads. Pouring billions into AI infrastructure and talent acquisition, Zuckerberg is determined to keep Meta at the forefront — but Wall Street’s patience may be wearing thin.
 
Meta is expected to report its slowest profit growth in two years on Wednesday, with Q2 profits projected to rise by just 11.5% to $15.01 billion, according to LSEG estimates. Revenue growth is also likely to lag, forecasted at 14.7% year-on-year to $44.80 billion — the slowest in seven quarters. Operating costs have jumped nearly 9%, reflecting Meta’s aggressive AI investments.
 
Zuckerberg's AI ambitions are driven by growing competition, especially from rivals like OpenAI. In response, Meta has launched a multi-billion-dollar talent war, luring top researchers and investing heavily in AI infrastructure. One of its most significant moves was a $14.3 billion investment in AI startup Scale AI and the recruitment of its 28-year-old billionaire CEO, Alexandr Wang.
 
Despite laying off thousands of employees in recent quarters, Meta continues to double down on AI, with Zuckerberg pledging “hundreds of billions” towards building new AI data centers. However, the underperformance of Meta’s latest large language model, LLaMA 4, has added urgency and skepticism to his superintelligence vision — the pursuit of AI systems more capable than humans in every aspect.
 
Meta’s Reality Labs division, which focuses on augmented and virtual reality, has already burned through over $60 billion since 2020, further fueling investor concerns over unchecked spending.
 
Still, some shareholders remain optimistic. “Zuckerberg has always taken bold bets, and while AI is high-risk, the potential upside is enormous,” said one Silicon Valley tech analyst.
 
With earnings looming and results under scrutiny, the coming months may determine whether Meta’s costly AI push leads to dominance — or deeper investor doubt.
 
END/WD/AJ/